For years, online marketers and SEO specialists talked about the 72-character limit. Two years ago, Google updated the design of search engine results pages. So the new "rule" became 55-60 characters.

But what does Google say? Absolutely nothing. Does that mean if you write words that fill 75 characters that it's a waste of time? Hardly. Words in an SEO page title do affect search engine rankings. There is nothing magic about that 55th character.

I'm very impressed with an entrepreneur I met last month. She picked the perfect domain, developed a decent website and became an expert in her industry. The information she shares is exceptional. She targets a specific audience.

Great so far.

The problem is that it's a reasonable website - not a great one. Fortunately, she's open to a new design and knows that she needs to improve the Information Architecture.

In other words, she's willing to recognize what she doesn't know and get help with website development and online marketing. She made some good choices with WordPress and sensible plug-ins. Now she's clarifying what skills she has and how she should make the best use of her time while relying on professionals to tackle what she can't handle.

Other entrepreneurs try to pull off everything. They read every book, register for every webinar, attend conferences, etc. Gaining knowledge is fine I guess.… Read more

Big companies have all of the resources they want, but they still miss the ball with SEO and content marketing.

Get the details with my new study, "Big Businesses Fall Short with SEO and Content Marketing."

Yes, they enjoy choice rankings. The problem is that they're missing out on thousands and sometimes millions of visitors because they don't rank high enough for some keyword phrases.

I focused on the Fortune 100 and found that they fall to the second page of Google 19.4% of the time on average for the top 500 most searched keywords and phrases for each of their websites. They also rank near the bottom of the first page of Google for many search terms.

All they need to do is make decent content to rank higher. Fortune 100 and other large enterprises have considerable authority on the Internet with their old domain names, inbound links and large websites.… Read more

Content Tilting – adjusting that sweet spot to where there isn’t any or much competition

Building the Base – starting with the best channel to share content

Harvesting Audience – using social media and SEO to attract and convert one-time visitors

Diversification – pursuing diverse channels

Monetization – knowing when to begin charging for products and services

You’ll want to dive into specific sections like e-mail marketing and what Joe calls the “subscriber importance hierarchy.” Joe, while noting that each subscriber is not equal in value, provides practical advice about how to attract subscribers.… Read more